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Genres

This week the blog chain's topic is...genres! It's my responsibility to get the ball rolling, but make sure you check out the blogger who comes next to see her take on things, and then the blogger after her, and so on...

It's not hard for me to identify the overarching genres my writing falls into: science fiction and fantasy. What I have trouble with are the subgenres. I worry a lot about how urban fantasy is different from contemporary fantasy is different from science fantasy...?

There are several things I can blame for my love of sf/f. Gatchaman may be the first. When I was little, my friends and I religiously watched an Americanized sci-fi henshin anime. The Americanized version, Battle of the Planets, took the scifi even farther than the original, adding space travel, anthropomorphized robots, and aliens.

It also didn't hurt that there was always science fiction around the house when I was growing up. I was raised around iconic blockbusters like Dr. Who, Star Wars, and Star Trek. That stuff sinks in. (The original Star Wars films are still some of my favorite movies ever. And...Han shot first!)

Though the novels I read early on were mostly Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys (who were way cooler than Nancy), I soon discovered Madeleine L'Engle and CS Lewis. As I got older, I fell in love with Piers Anthony, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and later still, with Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

I love that both sf and f deal with the fantastic, with what could be if only modern physics would agree. Time travel, multiverses, cybernetics, and light-speed travel all fascinate me as much as sorcery and swordplay.
I hope this post is semi-coherent. I just got back from the ultimate sf/f geekfest, the San Diego Comicon. I'm still a little tired!

4 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...
    Cool! That's so aweseome you got to go to ComicCon. I love this post, but I'm a little worried about posting. I'll have to give it some thought...great job Carolyn!
    Kate Karyus Quinn said...
    Great post! However, once you have caught up on your sleep I demand a follow-up post describing your ComicCon experience so I can live vicariously through you!
    Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman said...
    LOL -- Okay, I will post about the Con once I recover!
    The Silent Voices in my Mind said...
    Wow! You already had me hooked by combining 2 of my 3 biggest passions, writing and psychology. (My kids are my other one and I'd get creeped out if you were posting about MY kids LOL) Now I find out you read and have read so many of the same books I enjoy, too. (Have you read any of the Dragonriders of Pern series?) And just to cap it off for good measure, you watch some of my favorite tv shows. (Did you see the season finale of Doctor Who?) AND you were at ComicCon???

    That is so awesome. I have upgraded my status from a reader to a fan!

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